Credit: The Associated Press

In this May 4, 2014 photo, documentary film maker Dave Fresina, right, talks to Dan Cummings, 33, at Journey Forward, Cummings' center to help people recover from spinal cord injuries, in Canton, Mass. Fresina, of Hull, Mass., produced a documentary “Mile of Hope: The Dan Cummings Story,” about his recovery after a diving accident made him a quadriplegic at age 19. (AP Photo/The Patriot Ledger, Greg Derr)

QUINCY, Mass. — If he took it one day at a time and gave it his all, Dan Cummings truly believed that he would eventually walk again.

Seven years after a diving accident made him a quadriplegic at age 19, after moving across the country and undergoing countless hours of grueling physical therapy, Cummings took his first steps using a walker in 2007.

"I felt like I was flying. It was a surreal feeling, like I was floating," Cummings, 33, said. "Not walking again was never an option. I said absolutely not. I was young, and I refused to accept that."